Cable terminal



Aug. 21, 1934.

H I'QABEZZANA CABLE TERMINAL Original Filed March 22, 1928 Patented Aug.21, 1934 CABLE TERMINAL Hector Rabezzana, Flint, Michfassignor, by

mesne assignments, to

General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich, a corporation of Del-Original application March 22, 1928, Serial No.

. 263,903. Divided and this 31, 1929, Serial No. 403,792

application October 1 Claim. (Cl. 173-269) This invention relates tocable terminal con nectors, such as are employed for connecting ignitioncables to the terminals of spark plugs, and is a division of myapplication, S. N. 263,903,

filed March 22, 1928, which has become Patent No. 1,792,866 datedFebruary 17, 1931.

My invention consists essentially of a cylinder within one endof whichthe cable is secured and the other end of which is adapted for griplllping engagement with the spark plug terminal. The connection with thecable is preferably made by means of a tongue bent inwardly from thecylinder and forced through the cable covering into electrical contactwith the conductor; In the forms disclosed herein, the grippingengagement with the spark plug terminal is obtained by providing thecylinder with an integral inwardly pressed portion for engaging theterminal.

Various modifications of my invention will be described herein, as shownin the accompanying drawing.

Fig. l is a partial section through the preferred form of my connectorshowing it applied to a conventional type of spark plug.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of such preferred form.

Figs. 3 and 4 are perspective views of modified forms of the connector.

Fig. 5 is a view showing the method of connecting the cable end to theconnector.

Fig. 6, is a cross-sectional view showing the electrical contact of thecable connection.

In Fig. 1 the numeral 1 indicates a conventional spark plug providedwith a terminal 2 shown as screw-threaded and equipped with a sleeve 3provided with-an annular groove 4 for cooperation with my improvedconnector, the part of this construction essential to the presentinvention being the provision of such annular groove or equivalentengaging means. My preferred form of connector consists of a cylinder 5formed of sheet metal and provided intermediate its ends with an annularconstriction or abutment 6 serving to limit the extent of insertion ofthe ignition cable '1.

The numeral 8 designates a pointed tongue pressed inwardly from themetal of the cylinder 5 and adapted to pierce the cable insulation andmake electrical contact with the cable conductor 9, as shown in Fig. 6.To assemble the cable with the connector, the cable receiving end of thecylinder'5 is left open at the seam, as shown in Fig. 5, so as to permitthe introduction of the cable, it being understood that during or afterinsertion of the cable, this open end of the cylinder will be closed.

In my preferred embodiment, the other end of the-cylinder 5 is providedwith a bendable tongue 10 having an inwardly pressed portion 11, whichas shown in Fig. 1, is adapted to engage in the groove 4 of the sparkplug terminal. The bendable tongue 10 is preferably formed by cutting orpunching out a portion of the cylinder wall between the abutment 6 andthe terminal receiving end, which in the final product is positioneddiametrically opposite the split in the cylinder and in longitudinalalignment with the pointed tongue pressed therefrom as may be seen fromFig. 2. As shown in Fig. 2, tongue -10 may be formed to extend towardthe open end of they connector adapted axially to receive the groovedterminal of a spark plug by cuts converging toward said end and joinedtogether near said end. It will be seen from Fig. 1 that the cylinder 5is of .such size and form as to maintain itself securely on the sparkplug and substantially in axial alignment with the grooved terminalmember 3 when the resilient tongue 10 engages the groove 4.

In the form shown in Fig. 3, the connector is slotted diametrically asat 12 at the terminalreceiving end to form opposed spring fingers orbendable tongues 13 and 14. The fingers or tongues are provided withinwardly pressed ribs 15 adapted to seat in the groove 4 of the sparkplug terminal in the same manner as the inwardly pressed portion 11 inthe form shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The end of the cylinder which engagesthe terminal is reduced as at 16 to limit the inward insertion of theignition cable which .is connected thereto as previously described.

The construction in Fig. 4 illustrates a connector formed in two parts16 and 17. The terminal-receiving part 16'is slotted and the springfingers or bendable tongues provided with inwardly pressed ribssimilarly to the form shown in Fig. 3. This part 16 is provided with aclosed end 18 having an annular groove .19 receiving an intumed flange20 on the cable-receiving part 17, which latter part is split andprovided with the inwardly bent cable piercing tongue as in prior forms.The closed end 18 serves to limit insertion of the ignition cable.

My improved connector in its various forms is characterized by the easewith which it may Y be applied to the ignition cable and to-the sparkplug terminal, and by the cheapness and simplicity of its construction.I

I claim:

and are joined together at a. point between the ends of said sleeve toprovide an integral, resilient tongue, said tongue being formed with aninwardly extending portion for frictional engage- .n' ent in the grooveof the terminal.

HECTOR RABEZZANA.

